Background

Romano was born on August 9, 1939, in Scandiano, Reggio Emilia, Italy. He is the eighth of nine children of Mario Prodi, an engineer originally from a peasant family, and Enrica, a primary school teacher. He has two sisters and six brothers.

Education

Prodi graduated from Catholic University in Milan in 1961 and did postdoctoral work at the London School of Economics.

Career

After serving as a professor of economics at the University of Bologna, he entered government as minister of industry in 1978. In 1996, after two productive stints as chairman of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (1982–89 and 1993–94), he ran for prime minister. Prodi, taking advantage of Italian electoral reform, built a centre-left base of support named the Olive Tree coalition. While incumbent Silvio Berlusconi used television to campaign, Prodi made a five-month bus tour around the country, calling for more accountability in government. His consensus-building approach to government appealed to voters, and his Olive Tree coalition won by a narrow margin. Prodi was appointed prime minister on May 17, 1996.

During his 28 months as prime minister, Prodi privatized telecommunications and reformed the government’s employment and pension policies. He significantly reduced the budget deficit in order to get the country accepted into the European Monetary Union (EMU), a task that had seemed all but impossible when he took office. Disputes over the country’s proposed budget, however, resulted in the loss of support from some left-wing members of his coalition, and Prodi resigned in October 1998. The following year he was named president of the European Commission, a key institution of the European Union (EU). His appointment came after the entire 20-member commission was forced to resign amid charges of widespread fraud and corruption. During his five-year term, the EU expanded beyond its western European roots to include Malta, Cyprus, and eight eastern and central European members.

After his term as president of the European Commission ended in 2004, Prodi returned to Italian politics and in 2006 ran for prime minister. Among his campaign pledges were improving the country’s ailing economy and withdrawing troops from Iraq (see Iraq War). In the April 2006 elections, Prodi’s centre-left coalition won a narrow victory over Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right bloc. Berlusconi initially contested the results, but in May he resigned. Prodi was sworn in as prime minister later that month. His second term lasted 20 months; he resigned after losing a confidence vote in January 2008.

Achievements

• 

  He served twice as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and then from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008. He is considered the founder of the Italian centre-left and one of the most prominent and iconic figures of the so-called Second Republic.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Europe as I See It
  • EU and Asia

Politics

Prodi's economic programme consisted in continuing the past governments' work of restoration of the country's economic health, in order to pursue the then seemingly unreachable goal of leading the country within the strict European Monetary System parameters in order to allow the country to join the Euro currency. He succeeded in this in little more than six months.

During his first premiership, Prodi faced the Albanian civil war; his government proposed the so-called Operation Alba ("Sunrise"), a multinational peacekeeping force sent to Albania in 1997 and led by Italy. It was intended to help the Albanian government restore law and order in their troubled country after the 1997 rebellion in Albania.

Following the degenerating loss of administrative control by the Government in the first days of March 1997, culminating in the desertion of most Police and many Republican Guard and Army units, leaving their armouries open to the inevitable looting which soon followed, several Nations autonomously helped evacuate their Nationals, causing wider concerns about the fate of others. The UN Security Council therefore agreed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1101 as a stop-gap operation to manage this and buy time, laying the foundations for another International Organisation to manage a planned reconstruction, which after six weeks of debate fell to the Western European Union, creating the Multinational Albanian Police Element around a command structure of Italian Military Carabinieri, which actually undertook the work of Judicial and Police reconstruction, extending into the elimination of the economic causes of the crisis.

The Italian 3rd Army Corps assumed responsibility for the stop-gap mission as Operation Alba, the first multinational Italian-led Mission since World War II. Eleven contributing European Nations brought humanitarian aid to a country that was in a dramatic economic and political situation.

Views

Quotations: "I am not overconfident."

"No one wants to lose their job, or cede the power they've acquired."

"I don't want to pass a punitive law, or use politics as a vendetta."

"But Italy can only have any real influence on world affairs if it carries weight in Europe."

"Foreign policy can mean several things, not only foreign policy in the narrow sense. It can cover foreign policy, relations with the developing world, and enlargement as well."

"Think what a revolution it will be if we manage to get everyone to pay their taxes."

"It is becoming more widely acknowledged that it is better to have a good constitution than not having a perfect one."

"I am not a newcomer, you know, so I want to be judged for what I did when I was prime minister last time in Italy and president of the European Commission for more than five years."

Personality

Italians think of him as a piece of meat. It's not what you're thinking. The public nicknamed him Mortadella, the mildest of Italian salami for his mild-mannered nature. A college professor, he tends to be reserved and, in some ways, is the polar opposite of the charmer Berlusconi. In other words, don't expect Prodi to call people “coglioni,” sign on to sing an album with a popular Italian singer, or rant and rave about Italian soccer.

Prodi is a bookworm.

Physical Characteristics: Height: 5' 9¼" (1,76 m)

Interests

• Cycling, distance running

Connections

Prodi married Flavia Franzoni in 1969. He was married by Camillo Ruini, now a well-known cardinal. They have two sons, Giorgio and Antonio.

Father:

Mario Prodi

Mother:

Erica Prodi

Spouse:

Flavia Franzoni

Son:

Giorgio Prodi

Son:

Antonio Prodi

Brother:

Vittorio Prodi

He is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North-East with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.

colleague:

James Gordon Brown

colleague:

Angela Merkel

References

• Il professore: Romano Prodi : dall'IRI all'Ulivo, un progetto per l'Italia (Piccole frecce) (Italian Edition)
• Conversazione con Romano Prodi e Jacques Delors. Dieci anni con l'euro in tasca